Chapter 135
Chapter 135
Wen Lianfeng sat on the edge of the bed with a map spread open in her hands. Several new lines had been sketched across it in pen. Chu Jingchu crouched beside her, staring blankly at them.
Wen Lianfeng looked up at her.
“What are you thinking about?”
Chu Jingchu came back to herself and forced a smile. “I was thinking… We’ve been here so long. There’s food, and there are no Madmen. Now that we’ve decided to leave, even my body is resisting the idea.”
Wen Lianfeng said nothing.
Taking the initiative to face the Madmen was enough to make anyone’s scalp crawl. But they had no choice. The longer she stayed in this Psychiatric Hospital, the stronger her unease became.
Every little detail told her that something was wrong with this place.
A Psychiatric Hospital the Madmen “couldn’t find.” Survivors who placed all their hopes in the Director. And that perpetually gentle woman whom no one could see through.
Chu Jingchu studied her profile, then suddenly smiled.
“Forget it. I trust you unconditionally anyway.” She stretched. “If you tell me to go east, I definitely won’t go west…”
Wen Lianfeng cut her off. “Where’s Qingshui?” Her brows drew together slightly.
“Probably with the Director again… I think?” Chu Jingchu sounded uncertain.
Wen Lianfeng fell silent for a few seconds.
She could tell that Qingshui was in a bad place mentally. The girl carried far too much on her shoulders, so much that she could barely breathe beneath the weight of it. Having someone willing to help her was a good thing.
But that someone was the Director.
Whenever Wen Lianfeng thought of that woman, an inexplicable unease stirred inside her. It was like standing at the edge of deep water and watching a dark shadow glide beneath the surface without being able to make out what it was.
“She trusts people too easily,” Wen Lianfeng said suddenly.
Chu Jingchu looked at her. “Qingshui?”
Wen Lianfeng nodded.
“She seems cold, like she doesn’t care much about anyone. But…” She paused, as though searching for the right words. “Deep down, she wants to be accepted more than anyone. All it takes is for someone to show her a little kindness, and she…”
She left the sentence unfinished.
Chu Jingchu was quiet for a few seconds, then sighed. “Don’t we all? In a world like this, everyone’s gone mad. Give someone a place where they’re accepted, someone willing to listen to them, and anyone could get drawn in.”
Wen Lianfeng didn’t respond. She merely stared at the map and the half-drawn routes.
Qingshui needed help. But what if the person helping her had problems of her own?
“By the way…” Chu Jingchu abruptly changed the subject, lowering her voice even further. “Now that Xu Wenlie is dead, do you really think the Director will let us leave that easily?”
Wen Lianfeng raised her head and looked at her. “Our legs belong to us.”
Chu Jingchu froze for a moment, then laughed. “Fair point.”
Just as she finished speaking, three knocks sounded at the door.
Both women turned toward it at once. Their eyes met, surprise flickering in both their gazes.
Who could it be at this hour?
Before they could ask, a voice came from outside, pitched extremely low.
“It’s me.”
That voice… It was Meng Rui.
Wen Lianfeng and Chu Jingchu held each other’s gaze a little longer this time. Meng Rui? What did she want with them?
Silence stretched for several seconds.
Wen Lianfeng swiftly folded up the map and tucked it inside her clothes. Chu Jingchu cleared her throat and called out, “Do you need something?”
“Yes.”
Just one word. But something in her tone made Chu Jingchu rise to her feet. She walked to the door and opened it.
Meng Rui stood outside, accompanied by a woman with thick eyebrows and large eyes. Without waiting for Chu Jingchu to speak, Meng Rui stepped straight into the room. The other woman followed her inside and locked the door behind them.
Wen Lianfeng remained seated on the edge of the bed. She didn’t move, merely lifting her eyes to watch Meng Rui.
“One of my people is dead,” Meng Rui said.
Wen Lianfeng paused mid-motion.
“In the basement.”
Wen Lianfeng slowly tilted her head and looked at her, unsure for the moment what she was getting at.
“Xu Yun killed her,” Meng Rui continued, speaking a little faster. “There’s a secret in that basement. One of my people went in and never came back out.”
Chu Jingchu frowned. “How do you know Xu Yun killed her?”
“I heard it.”
Meng Rui looked at her. “The sound of a knife sinking into flesh,” she said, enunciating every word. “It’s not exactly an unfamiliar sound, is it?”
Chu Jingchu’s frown deepened.
“And Zhou Sufen’s group,” Meng Rui continued. “Who knows when Xu Yun disposed of them too.”
Chu Jingchu fell silent for a moment before raising a reasonable objection. “Maybe… we just haven’t seen them?”
Meng Rui looked at her with something in her eyes that was almost… pity. Then she looked away and turned to Wen Lianfeng.
“So…” Wen Lianfeng began slowly, “what do you want us to do?”
“Join you?”
“And then kill the Director?”
Meng Rui didn’t answer right away.
Wen Lianfeng didn’t press her. She simply watched and waited in silence.
Several seconds passed before Meng Rui finally spoke. Her voice was lower than before, but steadier. “If you stay here, you have two choices: join me, or let her turn you into her followers.”
She paused. “I can’t promise absolute fairness. But I will never dress everything up with cheap compassion the way Xu Yun does.”
“With me, only those who are useful deserve to live.”
She stared at Wen Lianfeng. “Wen Lianfeng, give me a straight answer.”
Who were they going to join? Zhou Sufen and the others had tried to remain neutral, and now they had vanished.
The room was so quiet they could hear each other breathing.
Wen Lianfeng looked at Meng Rui. Resentment and fear burned in the woman’s eyes.
She was afraid Xu Yun would strike first. Afraid she would be the next person to “disappear.” Afraid she was no match for that eternally gentle woman.
Wen Lianfeng felt a headache coming on. She had never intended to stay here in the first place. She had only remained friendly to buy time, recover her strength, and plan a route out.
“That’s beside the point.”
Meng Rui’s brow furrowed.
“You and I haven’t even reached a basic understanding,” Wen Lianfeng said. “Much less produced enough evidence to convince anyone else. You think saying there’s ‘a secret’ will be enough to make these people turn against the woman they worship as a god?”
She looked at Meng Rui. “You know better than I do how unrealistic that is.”
Meng Rui opened her mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent. The two sides faced each other in a wordless standoff.
Then Meng Rui rose to her feet.
Without another word, she walked toward the door. The woman who had come with her followed silently behind.
The door opened, then closed.
Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Wen Lianfeng stared at the door without moving for a long time.
Chu Jingchu moved closer and lowered her voice. “Do you think she was telling the truth?”
Wen Lianfeng kept her eyes fixed on the door, her gaze unfathomable. “Whether she was or not, we can’t stay here.”
Chu Jingchu looked at her.
“I already knew something was wrong,” Wen Lianfeng continued, almost to herself. “Meng Rui can’t beat her.”
Chu Jingchu frowned.
“Then we need to leave as soon as possible?”
Wen Lianfeng nodded. Her instincts told her that something was bound to happen here sooner or later. And it would be sooner.
She had to plan a new route. They couldn’t afford to wait for the second airdrop.